As President Museveni prepares to visit West Nile as part of his nationwide tour assessing the progress of the Parish Development Model, the region’s leaders are speaking out about what they see as decades of neglect.
In an open letter addressed to the NRM Secretary General, Maracha County MP Lee Oguzu has accused the ruling party of treating West Nile as a mere “vote plantation” — a region courted during elections but abandoned soon after.
Forum for Democratic Change legislator Oguzu highlighted the frustration among West Nile residents, who have consistently supported the NRM but feel they have little to show for their loyalty.
He pointed to crumbling infrastructure, inadequate healthcare, underfunded schools, and a lack of economic opportunities.
“The people of West Nile have long been sold a dream—a dream of roads that connect, clinics that heal, schools that empower, and lights that illuminate. Yet today, these dreams lie shattered—crushed under the weight of empty pledges and a legacy of betrayal,” Oguzu wrote.
The MP cited the dire state of health facilities, where hospitals in Arua, Terego, and Maracha remain understocked with drugs, leaving mothers to bury children who die from treatable diseases like malaria.
Schools in the region, he said, remain severely underfunded, with many students still studying under trees.
“Only 10% of those who enroll in primary school make it to P7. West Nile contributes significantly to the 22,000 classrooms that have not been built, and our parishes are among the 1,600 that still lack a primary school,” he wrote.
While Museveni has made various commitments to the region, including connecting it to the national power grid through the Kole-Gulu-Nebbi-Arua Transmission Line, Oguzu argued that these developments have been selective and inadequate.
“Where is the electricity pledged to power agro-processing factories while women in our villages still grind cassava by hand?" Oguzu asked.
"Where is the clean water sworn to flow by 2016, while children still drink from mud puddles alongside cattle? We are now among the 19 million Ugandans without access to clean water.”
The letter also criticised the lack of job opportunities for the youth in West Nile, many of whom now loiter on the streets of Arua or risk their lives crossing into Sudan and DR Congo in search of better prospects.
MP Oguzu called on the government to conduct a public audit of all NRM projects in the region since 2010 and publish the findings in local languages.
Museveni’s visit comes amid rising concerns about the effectiveness of government programs like the Parish Development Model, which was launched to boost local economies.
While the President has urged West Nile residents to embrace wealth creation programs such as Emyooga and commercial farming under the four-acre model, Oguzu contends that such initiatives are failing due to poor implementation and a lack of supporting infrastructure.
The West Nile sub-region, which includes Adjumani, Arua, Koboko, Terego, Maracha, Moyo, Pakwach, Nebbi, Yumbe, Zombo, Arua City, Obongi, and Madi-Okollo, remains one of Uganda’s least developed areas.
Key roads, including the Nebbi-Arua highway, remain in disrepair, while plans for industrial parks in Pakwach and Koboko have yet to materialize.
Oguzu warned that the ruling party can no longer rely on West Nile’s loyalty without delivering tangible results.
“Thirty-eight years is not time—it is a lifetime. A lifetime of stolen potential. The people of West Nile will no longer accept speeches. They will no longer applaud lies. The youth are watching. History is watching. Act now—or be condemned by the very loyalty you exploited.”
As Museveni arrives in the region, all eyes will be on whether his visit brings new commitments backed by real action—or if West Nile will once again be left with promises that never materialise.